This invention relates to a card connector to be connected to a card, such as an IC card and a communication card, and, in particular, to a card connector having a locking mechanism for preventing accidental release of a card.
Generally, a card connector has an eject mechanism for ejecting a card. For example, an eject mechanism called a W-PUSH type or a push—push type is known. The eject mechanism of this type has an eject lever to be moved within the connector together with the card inserted in the connector.
A structure in which the eject lever holds a locking member as a part of a locking mechanism for preventing accidental escape of the card from the card connector has been proposed, for example in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-326028. In this structure, the locking member is press-fitted to and held by the eject lever in a cantilevered fashion. Elastic deformation of the locking member moves a locking tab to lock the card and unlock the card.
Another known locking mechanism has a locking member rotatable around a rotation axis (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publications (JP-A) Nos. 2002-184525 and 2001-203034).
If the card connector is to be small in size, the eject lever must also be small. However, such an eject lever is disadvantageous because it is not rigid enough to support or withstand a moment during deformation of the locking member. In particular, in the structure in which the locking member is press-fitted to and held by the eject lever in a cantilevered fashion as disclosed in JP-A 2001-326028, the mechanical strength is insufficient in practical use.